I'm happy to report I had a really fun trip to southern Vermont recently. I took rural back roads headed first to Bennington to check out the exhibit by the equestrian artist father of a good friend of mine, someone I dated many years ago.

When I got there, the door was open but all the lights were off. I called out "Hello?" several times but no one answered. I really needed to use the restroom so I wandered around in the dark looking for it. After that, I just decided to wander the dark halls to look at the exhibit. I've actually seen many of them before, but I thought it would be neat to see them on exhibit. Truth be told, it was a rather dingy space and could have really benefitted from new carpeting and a paint job. I looked around for not too long, and decided I'd seen what I came for and was going to leave. Then I heard voices coming closer from some back office, so I thought I'd step out quietly, but I think they heard the front door close behind me, because by the time I got to my car, 2 little old ladies yelled out, "Can I help you?" I said I was there to see the exhibit and one of them responded that their hours were 12 to 4 pm. I said ok, thanks, without telling them I had already seen everything and had no plans to sit in my car for a half-hour to return.

So I headed north, and because my time there was unexpectedly abbreviated, and knowing I had told the B&B owner I'd be checking in not til 3 pm, I decided to pay a visit to the Vermont Country Store....a very touristy thing, but since I haven't been in this area since I lived there 40+ years ago, I figured it was worth a stop.

The B&B was nice and very comfortable. I purposefully changed my stay from weekdays to the weekend just so I could enjoy their 3-course breakfasts, served only on the weekends.

Part 1 was homemade granola and locally raised honey with granola and fresh berries.

Part 2 was a French omelet and small salad with greens grown in their garden.

Part 3 was the most delicious olive oil cake.

The B&B had a great view overlooking the CT River.

Here's another view. This is actually a Chinese restaurant.

The B&B was powered by 2 enormous solar panels that slowly rotated to always capture the sun. I really wanted to talk to the hosts about them but didn't get the chance.

I packed a lot into a 3-day trip, but I think my favorite thing was a hike at Muckross State Park, which wasn't there when I lived there. I had the place to myself. It had the most beautiful waterfall with wild trillium growing happily along the path. The late Senator May of Vermont bequeathed the land for a park in his will.

This moss-covered wood was cut so long ago that it's slowly rotting in place.

Here are some other views of downtown Springfield area:

I was a little surprisesd to see that Springfield looks much the same as it did 40 years ago. When I lived here, it was very economically depressed with high unemployment after many of the machine tool manufacturers, the major employers in this region, began layoffs. The area has languished a bit without those employers, and Springfield lacks the infusion of cash nearby ski towns enjoy. There are many derelict factory buildings all over town, and the same in Bellows Falls, too. This is the Black River, which flows through downtown.  The Black River is a tributary of the Connecticut River and has several waterfalls that were an important source of power for mills and factories in their day.

So when I lived in Springfield, I lived about a year in a dumpy apartment (lower level), which today is still dumpy.

Then, still trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, I decided I should go to law school in Boston, which I did for a year but then decideed I didn't like it. So I returned to the same newspaper where I worked after working out a deal with my editor: I would get to write the weekly column I wanted in exchange for serving as Lifestyles Editor, editing the obits and wedding announcements, writing book reviews (I got to choose the books I'd review, then keep the books!) and writing the occasional lifestyle feature. It really was a fun job without the pressure of daily 7 am deadlines I faced as a news reporter. So when I returned to the paper, I lived here. I lived on the 3rd floor and had a private entrance on the right side of house.

It certainly looks lovely, doesn't it? But it wasn't! When I lived there, it was a working dairy farm, and let me tell you, there were always dozens and dozens of houseflies at the windows trying to escape, along with disgusting cockroaches. Now, it's no longer a farm, and everything is lawn, so I imagine it is quite nice now.

While in Springfield I stumbled upon an anti-Trump protest (yay) and also that day just happened to be a statewide "Greenup Day" when volunteers pick up litter. Given that I organize  litter cleanups in my hometown, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity help out, so I filled 2 bags with litter from just a quarter-mile of road leading from the church you see here up the road a piece.

Also in Springfield, I found a "cat cafe" where you pay an additional small fee to hang out with a bunch of adoptable cats while you sip your drink.

Notice there are TWO cats shown here....

I spent an hour there and had a very nice conversation with one of the volunteers, who has a very interesting job as a traveling healthcare worker. She's a surgical assistant and lives for several months at a time in rural communities who I guess can't afford to adequately staff their hospitals year-round. She's from a small town in Kentucky. I asked her what she thought the difference was between small-town Kentucky and small-town Vermont, and she said, "the history" of Vermont.

Back in Bellows Falls, I spent a great deal of time looking for the location of the 5,000-year-old petroglphys etched in rocks alonside the Connecticut River. You can find a detailed description of their location online, since they are completely unmarked by the town or state, but for the life of me, I couldn't find the street. I finally did find where the road dead-ended at this bridge, which as been closed for reconstruction for the past 17 years. You pass a rather derelict area of old gas stations and the like, but again, this has long been a neglected area.

So once I found the bridge, I found a dirt path, and then i found the narrow foot path leading down a very steep slope down to the river. I couldn't go all the way down because being alone, I didn't want to fall and injure myself. But I was ok with not finding the petroglyphs as I've seen pictures of them online and they are pretty simple carvings of faces. I read that some locals tried to accentuate the historically valuable etchings by painting over them to make them stand out more!

But anyway, the views from the riverside were spectacular.

Downtown, browsed a well-stocked antiques shop although the state craft center in Springfield was very  nice indeed. Both towns have a number of giant wall murals which add character to the towns.

Before I left on Sunday, I also stumbled on a nursery specializing in rare and unusual plants. It was truly off the beaten path. I enjoyed talking to the owner, Scott, who's made this a lifetime endeavor, and of course I bought a bunch of plants, mostly for me, but also for a friend of mine who shares my passion for plants and doesn't mind a cultivar.

On the way home, I detoured to Stockbridge, Mass to visit the Berkshire Botanical Gardens. It was a chilly day and not as much to see since it was just the very start of the growing season.

All in all, I really enjoyed the trip. I found myself reflecting a lot on who I was when I lived there, and who I am now. And I wondered if I were older when I lived there, would my experiences there be different, and I think they would have been. I was in my 20s back then, and did  not know anyone in the area, so working as a news reporter digging up newsworthy stories was very tough, especially for an introvert! Knowing now what I didn't know then, if I were to do this over again I would definitely join some groups/clubs of any kind of social interest, hobby or whatever, just to get to know people. 

I spent a little more than I thought I would spend, but I did purchase a few little mementos at the Vermont Craft Center, and the B&B was more expensive than you might think for a small town B&B. But it was all very worth it.